Knit fabric for a welt or the like



c. A. MILES 3,098,368

KNIT FABRIC FOR A WELT OR THE LIKE Filed Jan. 17, 1961 INVENTOR:

CHAQLJE- A. MILE-S ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,098,368 KNIT FABRICFOR A WELT OR THE LHKE Charlie A. Miles, Burlington, N.C., assignor toAlamance Industries, Inc, Burlington, N.C., a corporation of NorthCarolina Filed Jan. 17, 1961, Ser. No. 83,329 5 Claims. (Cl. 66-178)This invention relates generally to stretchable fabrics for knitgarments, preferably of the circular knit type, which provide betterfitting qualities for the wearer thereof. More particularly, thisinvention is primarily concerned with forming an improved welt forcircular knit ladies sheer seamless hosiery of the type having a turnedwelt which is adapted to engage the leg of the wearer above the knee.

As is well known, seamless ladies sheer hosiery is knit on a circularknitting machine and the full component of needles must remain inknitting action throughout the knitting of the hose so that anyfashioning must be effected by changing the stitch size in the variousportions of the hose. For example, during the knitting of the welt thestitch loops are made as large as possible and during the knitting ofthe ankle portion the stitch loops are made as Small as possible. Whenextremely long stitch loops are formed of regular monofilament ormultifilament yarn during the knitting of the conventional type welt,vertical ribs, distorted stitch loops and/or crowfeet appear in thewelt. When the welt is knit with the longest stitches, it is possible todraw without forming distorted stitches, the welt will normally expandto a maximum width of from eleven to thirteen inches and in manyinstances this is not enough expansion .to afford a comfortable fit onthe thigh of the wearer.

In order to provide greater expansion of the welt, it has been suggestedthat the welt be formed entirely of multifilament thermoplastic yarnswhich have been processed to render the same stretchable. A welt knitentirely of stretchable thermoplastic yarns will expand easily and willlit a wide range of leg sizes. However, when this type of hose isfinished, the stretchable yarn in the welt will shrink to draw the weltinwardly and reduce the same to a size which is smaller than theadjacent portion of the leg. This presents an objectionable appearanceto the prospective customer since they are accustomed to purchasing hosein which the welt is at least as large as the adjacent portion of theleg.

With the foregoing in mind, it is a primary object of the presentinvention to provide an improved tubular knit fabric which isparticularly adapted for use in forming a welt for hose which hasincreased expansibility and in which the stitch loops have an even anduniform appearance.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an improvedhose of the type described in which the welt will be the same size asthe adjacent portion of the leg of the hose when in unstretched orrelaxed condition.

Generally, the above objects are accomplished by knitting the welt ofthe hose of a pair of yarns in plated relationship, one of the yarnsbeing a preshrunk non-stretchable multifilament thermoplastic yarn andthe other being a stretchable multifilament thermoplastic yarn. Withboth types of yarn being knit in each stitch loop, larger stitch loopscan be formed without any distortion of the stitch loops, thestretchable yarn permits a greater amount of expansion of the welt andthe preshrunk non-stretchable yarn acts as a control to limit bothexpansion and contraction of the welt so that the welt will snugly fit awide range of leg sizes and the welt will contract to the same size asthe adjacent portion of the leg of the hose when relaxed.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated,

3 ,098,368 Patented July 23, 1963 other objects will appear as thedescription proceeds, when taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, in which- FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of one side of theimproved hose of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary elevation of that portion ofthe hose enclosed in the dotted area 2 in FIGURE 1 and showing thestitch construction of a few stitches in the last few courses of theshadow welt and the first few courses of the leg, illustrating themanner in which the two dilferent types of yarn are knit in platedrelationship during the formation of the welt;

FIGURE 3 is -a side elevation of a portion of the preshrunknon-stretchable yarn used in knitting the welt;

FIGURE 4 is a side elevation of a portion of the stretchable yarn usedin knitting the welt of the hose.

Referring to the drawings, the seamless hose shown in FIGURE 1 includesa welt broadly indicated at W, a leg L and a foot F. The welt W includesa turned welt portion 10 which is formed of two thicknesses of knitfabric in the well-known conventional manner and a shadow welt or afterwelt it which is formed of a single thickness of knit fabric and whichis usually knit of the same yarn as the turned welt 10.

Referring to FIGURE 2, it will be noted that the stitch loops formed inthe needle wales N of the welt courses W-C each contain a first yarn Yand a second yarn S which are knit in plated relationship with eachother. The yarn Y is a multifilament preshrunk plain or non-stretchablethermoplastic yarn. The yarn S is a multifilament thermoplastic yarnwhich has been treated to kink, curl or crimp the filaments thereof sothat the resulting yarn is stretchable. The yarns Y and S are preferablynylon, however, it is to be understood that other suitable yarns may beutilized.

The stitch loops formed in the needle wales N in the leg courses L-Ceach contain a single yarn P. The yarn P is a plain unshrunknon-stretchable monofilament thermoplastic yarn, such as nylon. However,it is to be understood that the leg courses L-C may also be formed of aplain multifilament yarn, if desired. Also, the leg L can he knit of atorque or lively yarn so that .the knit fabric of the leg will stretchalthough the yarn itself is not stretchable.

It has been found that a highly satisfactory welt can be knit on a sheerladies seamless hose by utilizing the following types of yarn. It is tobe understood that the following illustrations are given by way ofexample only and the present invention is not to be strictly limitedthereto.

The yarn Y comprises one end of 20 denier nylon having seven filaments.This yarn is then twisted five turns per inch and wound onto collapsiblepaper cones. The yarn is then placed in an autoclave and treated at 225F. for thirty minutes to shrink the yarn so that approximately onepercent of residual shrinkage remains in the yarn. The yarn Y is thenwound onto suitable cones for feeding the same to a circular knittingmachine.

The yarn S comprises one end of 30 denier having ten filaments of nylon.This yarn is passed through a heated stutter box to cause the individualfilaments to crimp. This treatment imparts bulk to the yarn and causesthe yarn to be stretchable. The yarn S is then wound onto suitable conesfor feeding the same to a circular knitting machine.

The two yarns Y and S are preferably drawn from their separate cones andthen fed to the needles of the knitting machine through a common yarnfeeding finger. However, the yarn-s Y and S may be plied together andthen drawn from a single cone on the knitting machine. Thus, both yarnsY and S are knit in plated relationship in each stitch loop of theturned welt it} and after welt 11 of the hose. Upon completion of theknitting of the welt W, the leg and foot of the hose may be knit withany suitable yarn, such as a 15 denier plain monofilament nylon yarn.

When the hose is knit with yarns of the above type on a circularknitting machine having a 3% inch cylinder with 400 needles therein, thewelt W will stretch fifteen or more inches after the hose is finished.On the other hand, the welt of hose knit on the same machine and using asingle end of preshrunk multifilament yarn will only stretch from elevento thirteen inches.

After closing the toe of the hose, it is then boarded and finished inthe usual manner. During boarding, the Welt, leg and foot of the hoseshrink to snugly fit the boarding form, however, the preshrunk yarn Y inthe welt prevents excessive shrinkage of the welt and after welt 10 and11. The heat applied during the boarding operation also sets the shapeof the boarding form in the hose.

When the hose is removed from the boarding form, 0pposite side edges ofthe turned wel-t 10 and after welt 11 remain in alinement with oppositeside edges of the adjacent portion of the leg L to thereby present aneat appearance. Since both yarns are fed to the needles to form stitchloops in the welt, much larger stitch loops can be formed than could beformed with a single yarn of smaller diameter. These relatively largestitch loops and the stretchable yarn S allow the fabric of the welt tobe extended a greater than normal amount and, as has been stated, thewelt made in accordance with this invention will stretch fifteen or moreinches while a conventional welt knit of a plain preshrunk multifilamentyarn will only stretch from eleven to thirteen inches. Also, when thewelt of the present invention is relaxed, the welt and after welt willconform to the relaxed Width of the upper portion of the leg of thestocking. While the stretchable yarn S causes the welt to retract, thepreshrunk plain yarn Y controls the amount of retraction and expansionof the welt.

Thus, in the improved hose formed according to the present invention,the welt has much more stretch than is provided in the conventional weltformed of a single regular multifilament yarn. The Welt has a neatappearance when the hose is in relaxed condition and it will snugly fitthe leg of women having average leg sizes and the welt may be expandedto comfortably fit the leg of women who need an extra large welt.

Although the present invention is particularly directed to the formationof an improved stretchable tubular fabric, it is to be understood thatthe invention may also be applied to flat knit articles, such asfull-fashioned hose.

In the drawings and specification there has been set forth a preferredembodiment of the invention and, although specific terms are employed,they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not forpurposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in theclaims.

I claim:

1. An improved ladies knit hose having a plurality of serially knitcourses of stitches forming welt and leg portions, said stitches in theleg portion being knit of a thermoplastic yarn, and each of saidstitches in the welt portion being knit of a non-stretchablemultifilamcnt thermoplastic yarn and a stretchable multifilamentthermoplastic yarn in plated relationship.

2. An improved ladies seamless knit hose having a plurality of seriallyknit circular courses of stitches forming welt and leg portions, saidstitches in the leg portion being knit of a non-stretchablethermoplastic yarn, each of said stitches in the welt portion being knitof a non-stretchable multifilament thermoplastic yarn and a stretchablemultifilament thermoplastic yarn in plated relationship, and thenon-stretchable yarn in the leg being of a different character than thenon-stretchable yarn in the welt.

3. An improved ladies seamless knit hose having a plurality of seriallyknit circular courses of stitches forming welt and leg portions, saidstitches in the leg portion being knit of an unshrunk non-stretchablethermoplastic yarn, and each of said stitches in the wall: portion beingknit of a preshrunk non-stretchable multifilament thermoplastic yarn anda stretchable multifilament thermoplastic yarn in plated relationship.

4. An improved ladies seamless knit hose having a plurality. of seriallyknit circular courses of stitches forming welt and leg portions, saidstitches in the leg portion being knit of an unshrunk non-stretchablemonofilament thermoplastic yarn, and each of said stitches in the weltportion being knit of a preshrunk non-stretchable multifilamentthermoplastic yarn and a stretchable multifilament thermoplastic yarn inplated relationship.

5. An improved knit fabric for forming a welt comprising a plurality ofserially knit courses of stitches, each of said stitches being knit of apreshrunk non-stretchable multifilament nylon yarn and a stretchablemultifilament ,nylon yarn in plated relationship, said non-stretchableyarn being twenty denier and having seven filaments, said stretchableyarn being thirty denier and having ten filaments, and saidnon-stretchable yarn having five turns of twist per inch appliedthereto.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,174,878 Hardy Oct. 3, 1939 2,396,166 Faucette Mar. 5, 1946 2,536,163Peild et al. Jan. .2, 1951 2,795,123 Schumann June 11, 1957

1. AN IMPROVED LADIES'' KNIT HOSE HAVING A PLURALITY IOF SERIALLY KNITCOURSES OF STACHES FORMING WELT AND LEG PORTIONS, SAID STITCHES IN THELEG PORTION BEING KNIT OF A THERMOPLASTIC YARN, AND EACH OF SAID STICHESIN THE WELT PORTION BEING KNIT OF A NON-STRETCHABLE MULTIFILAMENT